1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a featherlite tent pole and a connecting structure thereof, and more particularly, to a featherlite tent pole and a connecting structure thereof, which can overcome weakness of connected portions between tent poles, which form a framework of a tent, and maintain a securely connected state of the tent pole.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a tent includes a waterproof cloth and a plurality of tent poles to make a temporary dwelling for camping or spending time outdoors. The plural tent poles are assembled to each other to form a prescribed shape which is covered with the waterproof cloth to form the tent.
The tent poles are a framework for forming the inside space of the tent, and are manufactured in the form of a cylindrical pipe. As is known, the interior space of each tent pole can be provided with an elastic rubber band or an elastic cord. The plural tent poles are simply connected to each other by using the elasticity of the elastic cords, and the elastic cords are fixed by locking tips mounted at the end portion of the tent pole.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of prior art conventional tent poles in a connected state. As shown in FIG. 1, in case of the conventional tent poles, a connection pipe 4 of a prescribed length is inserted inside two tent poles 2 and 6 to connect the tent poles 2 and 6 with each other. The external diameter of the connection pipe 4 is restricted by the internal diameter of the tent poles 2 and 6. Therefore, the strength of the connection pipe 4 and the connection made thereby is determined by the thickness and the quality of the material of the connection pipe 4.
If the tent poles 2 and 6 are connected by the connection pipe 4, there occurs a destruction phenomenon at the connected part of the tent poles 2 and 6 as follows. If the strength of the connection pipe 4 is less than that of the tent poles 2 and 6, as shown in FIG. 2, first the connection pipe 4 is bent by the external force. To the contrary, if the strength of the connection pipe 4 is greater than that of the tent poles 2 and 6, as shown in FIG. 3, first the tent poles 2 and 6 are bent.
Another well known connecting structure of the tent poles is shown in FIG. 4. A tent pole 8 has a reduced tube part 10 formed at an end thereof. The external diameter of the reduced tube part 10 is smaller than the internal diameter of other portions of the tent pole 8. The reduced tube part 10 is inserted into an end portion of another tent pole 12, and thereby the tent poles 8 and 12 are connected to each other. Such connecting structure has a reduced weight in comparison with the connecting structure using the connection pipe.
However, since the external diameter of the reduced tube part 10 must be smaller than or equal to the internal diameter of the tent pole 12, the thickness of the reduced tube part 10 is constant and is restricted in change. Therefore, since the thickness of the reduced tube part 10 is restricted in increase but a start part 11 of the reduced tube part 10 has a smaller product of inertia than other portions, the stress caused by an external force is concentrated on the start part 11 of the reduced tube part 10. Therefore, there occurs a phenomenon that the start part 11 of the reduced tube part 10 is the first area to fail, as shown in FIG. 5.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a featherlite tent pole and a connecting structure thereof, which can prevent a start part of a reduced tube part from being damaged by the external force by reinforcing the start part of the reduced tube part.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a featherlite tent pole comprising: a reduced tube part of a prescribed length formed at an end, the reduced tube part being inserted into the tent pole; and a reinforced rod disposed inside a start part of the reduced tube part to reinforce the start part, the reinforced rod having the external form corresponding to the internal form of the start part.
It is preferable that the reinforced rod includes a round portion being in the form of a ring, which has an external diameter corresponding to the internal diameter of the reduced tube part, and a conical portion having a slanted surface. The slanted surface of the conical portion is sized and shaped to correspond to and contact the slanted internal diameter of the start part.
In the tent pole according to the present invention, it is preferable that an enlarged tube part is formed at the other end portion of the tent pole to insert the reduced tube part of another tent pole to be connected to the tent pole and a stopper is disposed inside the enlarged tube part to restrict the advance of the reduced tube part of the other tent pole. The stopper is in the form of a ring having a hole at the center.
Moreover, according to the method of the present invention, a connecting structure of tent poles is formed by mounting reinforcing rods inside a start part of a reduced tube part of a prescribed length formed at an end portion of a tent pole, each reinforcing rod having the external form corresponding to the internal form of the start part; and connecting the tent pole with another tent pole by inserting the reduced tube part into an end portion of the other tent pole to be connected.